Posts tagged activity
Mobile Phones Causes Harm to Human Brain Activity
Feb 24th
Since the increase of mobile phone use, health issues have always been associated with it. The effect of mobile phones on human body was a matter of concern. A recent study conducted by the National Institutes of Health in the US has claimed that mobile phones could pose a threat on the activity of human brain.
The reason of link between the two is not clear yet, but researchers have told that after talking on phone for nearly an hour, the activity of brain significantly increases. The researchers conducted a study on 47 individuals to see the effects of magnetic fields coming from a phone’s antenna. The study has reported a 7% rise in glucose use in the parts of brain which were close to the antenna of the phone.
Researchers found that human brain is sensitive to the effects of the magnetic field of the phone’s antenna. They found that the brain activity was affected after the use of mobile phones but could not reach on any conclusions related to the health threats it may pose.
Researchers concluded that more study is needed to set up a clear link between the high sugar use in brain and health risks it may pose.
From topnews.net.nz
Cell phone calls alter brain activity: Study
Feb 24th
Spending 50 minutes with a cell phone plastered to your ear is enough to change brain cell activity in the part of the brain closest to the antenna.
But whether that causes any harm is not clear, scientists at the National Institutes of Health said on Tuesday, adding that the study will likely not settle recurring concerns of a link between cell phones and brain cancer.
“What we showed is glucose metabolism (a sign of brain activity) increases in the brain in people who were exposed to a cell phone in the area closet to the antenna,” said Dr. Nora Volkow of the NIH, whose study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study was meant to examine how the brain reacts to electromagnetic fields caused by wireless phone signals.
Volkow said she was surprised that the weak electromagnetic radiation from cell phones could affect brain activity, but she said the findings do not shed any light on whether cell phones cause cancer.
“This study does not in any way indicate that. What the study does is to show the human brain is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation from cell phone exposures.”
Use of the devices has increased dramatically since they were introduced in the early-to-mid 1980s, with about 5 billion mobile phones now in use worldwide.
Some studies have linked cell phone exposure to an increased risk of brain cancers, but a large study by the World Health Organization was inconclusive.
Volkow’s team studied 47 people who had brain scans while a cell phone was turned on for 50 minutes and another while the phone was turned off.
While there was no overall change in brain metabolism, they found a 7 percent increase in brain metabolism in the region closest to the cell phone antenna when the phone was on.
Experts said the results were intriguing, but urged that they be interpreted with caution.
“Although the biological significance, if any, of increased glucose metabolism from acute cell phone exposure is unknown, the results warrant further investigation,” Henry Lai of the University of Washington, Seattle, and Dr. Lennart Hardell of University Hospital in Orebro, Sweden, wrote in a commentary in JAMA.
“Much has to be done to further investigate and understand these effects,” they wrote.
Professor Patrick Haggard of University College London said the results were interesting since the study suggests a direct effect of cell phone signals on brain function.
But he said much larger fluctuations in brain metabolic rate can occur naturally, such as when a person is thinking.
“If further studies confirm that mobile phone signals do have direct effects on brain metabolism, then it will be important to investigate whether such effects have implications for health,” he said.
John Walls, a spokesman for CTIA-The Wireless Association, an industry group, said the scientific evidence so far “has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices, within the limits established by the FCC (Federal Communications Commission), do not pose a public health risk or cause any adverse health effects.”
Volkow said her the findings suggest the need for more study to see if cell phones have a negative effect on brain cells.
Meanwhile, Volkow isn’t taking any chances. She now uses an ear phone instead of placing a cell phone next to her ear.
“I don’t say there is any risk, but in case there is, why not?”
From www.globaltoronto.com
Mobile phone exposure alters brain cell activity.
Feb 24th
An exposure to mobile phones not less than 50 minutes showed changes in brain cell activity nearer to the part where it is kept closer to the antenna of the mobile.
US. National Institute of Health(NIH) conducted the study and further said that the harm caused by the mobile is not clear and it does not settle any conclusion of any link for brain cancer formation.
Dr. Nora Volkow of the NIH who conducted the study said that they have seen the alteration in the glucose metabolism(a sign of brain activity) when the brain is exposed to mobile phone radiation and added that the changes had taken place in the place where it is kept closer to the mobile antenna.
The study results were published in the journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA)
The study was intended to see the reaction of the brain to electromagnetic waves caused by wireless phone signals.
Volkow said that their study shed light on the changes that had taken place in the brain by exposure to electromagnetic waves by mobiles and however it shed any light on the link of radiation and cancer.
She said “human brain is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone exposure.”
Volkow and her team studied 47 people on whom brain scan taken with the mobile phone exposure for 50 minutes and others were taken brain scans with the mobile phones kept at switched off.
They found that there was 7 per cent increase in brain metabolism in the region closest to the phone antenna when the phone was on.
From myhealthbowl.com
Mobile phones do affect brain activity – scientists
Feb 23rd
Chicago: Spending 50 minutes with a mobile phone stuck to your ear is enough to change brain cell activity, scientists at the National Institutes of Health have said. But whether that causes any harm is not clear, the scientists added on Tuesday.
“What we showed is glucose metabolism [a sign of brain activity] increases in the brain in people who were exposed to a mobile in the area closet to the antenna,” said Dr Nora Volkow of the NIH, whose study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The study was meant to examine how the brain reacts to electromagnetic fields caused by wireless phone signals. Volkow said she was surprised that the weak electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones could affect brain activity, but she said the findings do not shed any light on whether they cause cancer.
Sensitive
“This study does not in any way indicate that,” she said. “What the study does is to show the human brain is sensitive to electromagnetic radiation from mobile phone exposures.”
There are around five billion mobile phones now in use worldwide. Studies have linked their use to an increased risk of brain cancers, but a large investigation by the World Health Organisation was inconclusive. Volkow’s team studied 47 people who had brain scans while a mobile was turned on for 50 minutes and another while it was off.
While there was no overall change in brain metabolism, they found a seven per cent increase in the region closest to the mobile when the phone was on.
Volkow has called for more study in the area. Meanwhile, she has switched to using an earpiece.
From gulfnews.com
Study: Cell Phones Can Speed Up Brain Activity, Long-Term Effects Remain Unclear
Feb 23rd
A new study from the National Institutes of Health suggests that using cell phones can change the way our brains behave, though it remains unclear whether these changes can be harmful.
The study, published yesterday in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that just 50 minutes of cell phone use can noticeably speed up brain activity in the region closest to the phone’s antenna. While overall brain metabolism didn’t change when exposed to wireless radiation, activity in the area next to the antenna spiked by 7-percent. Dr. Nora Volkow, who led the study, told Reuters that the findings are significant because they demonstrate that even weak radiation from cell phones can alter the brain’s metabolism. But she added that it’s still too early to tell whether or not cell phones pose a tangible neurological risk, emphasizing that the results do “not in any way indicate that” cell phones can cause cancer.
Preliminary as its results may be, Volkow’s study has been met with keen interest from many in the health community — including Louis Slein, editor of a newsletter called Microwave News, which focuses on the effects that electromagnetic radiation can have on our health. “It’s a high-quality team, well regarded, and if nothing else they’re showing that radiation is doing something in the brain,” Slein told the New York Times. “The dogma in the cellphone community says that it doesn’t do anything. What she’s shown is that it does do something, and the next thing to find out is what it’s doing and whether it’s causing harm.”
There are already a few theories about the long-term effects these changes could have. Some worry that artificially stimulated brain metabolism could create molecules called free radicals, which can often destroy healthy brain cells. Others have speculated that persistent exposure to electromagnetic radiation could trigger some sort of inflammatory reaction, which has been associated with cancer.
Thus far, however, most studies have been unable to find conclusive evidence linking cell phones to cancer — something that the mobile industry is eager to point out. “The peer-reviewed scientific evidence has overwhelmingly indicated that wireless devices, within the limits established by the FCC, do not pose a public health risk or cause any adverse health effects,” said John Walls, vice president of industry trade group CTIA – The Wireless Association. Until the medical community arrives at a hard consensus, though, Volkow says she’ll continue wearing an earpiece when she talks on the phone: “I don’t say there is any risk, but in case there is, why not?”
Tags: brain, cancer, cellphones, CellPhonesAndCancer, electromagnetic, health, metabolism, radiation, research, science, study, top
From www.switched.com
Mobile phones boost brain activity
Feb 23rd
WHAT is your cellphone doing to your brain? The latest study shows that long calls boost brain activity, though whether this is harmful is not known.
Nora Volkow, director of the US National Institute on Drug Abuse in Bethesda, Maryland, and colleagues attached cellphones to each ear of 47 volunteers. They used a PET scanner to compare brain activity when both phones were switched off and when one phone was receiving a 50-minute call while the other remained off. The volunteers weren’t able to tell which, if either, of the phones was switched on, due to muting.
The group found a 7 per cent increase in activity in regions of the brain near the phone’s antenna when the phone was receiving a call (Journal of the American Medical Association, vol 305, p 808).
Volkow says it is too early to tell whether this is good or bad for the brain. “Much larger fluctuations in brain activity occur naturally,” says Patrick Haggard at University College London. In fact, being able to increase activity might boost the brain’s connectivity, and could even be useful therapeutically, Volkow suggests.
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From www.newscientist.com
Cell Phones Affect Brain Activity
Feb 23rd
A small study says holding a cell phone close to our head does affect our brain activity. And the discovery has been convincing enough to make one researcher change the way she uses her mobile device.
Many of us would simply lose our minds without a cell phone. But it turns out — even brief conversations on a mobile phone can alter activity in brain cells!
“Cell phone exposure, in this case for 50 minutes, affects the human brain,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, with National Institutes of Health. A small study from the national institutes of health finds radiofrequency signals from a mobile phone speed up the way brain cells metabolize glucose — which is a cell’s energy source.
Neurologists say that puts those brain cells closest to the phone’s antenna under stress. According to Dr. Michael Degeorgia, a Case Medical Center Neurologist, “those brain cells may tolerate the stress just fine but it may be that for some that extra stress just pushes those cells over.”
How far those cells can or should be pushed remains a mystery. And studies on whether mobile phone usage leads to brain tumors have been inconclusive. It’s going to take years of additional study to determine the long-term effects, if any.
But more than 90-percent of us use a wireless device, especially children and teenagers whose brains are still developing. “We don’t know what the long-term consequences of driving increased activity within those regions of the brain will be when these children become adults,” said Dr. Keith Black, with Cedars-Sinai Medical Center Neurologist.
The lead researcher on this latest study says she won’t stop using a cell phone, but she will change the way she uses it. Dr. Volkow says, “I no longer use the cell phone by putting it close to my brain. I use an ear piece.”
Until scientists piece together all the facts, any final conclusions are on hold. About a quarter of all U-S households are now wireless only.
From www.ky3.com
Mobile phone use increases brain activity, study suggests
Feb 22nd
Radio waves from mobile phones appear to boost activity in parts of the brain that are closest to the devices’ antennas, according to US government scientists.
Researchers found that a 50-minute call led to a localised increase in brain activity of 7%, but they said there was no evidence to suggest the rise was harmful.
To rule out the variation in brain activity that would be expected when someone listens to a call normally, changes in brain were monitored while the phone was taking a call but was muted.
The team, led by Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse in Maryland, found that brain activity rose in line with the strength of the electromagnetic field to which the particular brain region was exposed.
Mobile phones use radio waves to send and receive calls and these produce small electromagnetic fields that can be absorbed by the head and brain.
“Although we cannot determine the clinical significance, our results give evidence that the human brain is sensitive to the effects of radio-frequency electromagnetic fields from acute cellphone exposures,” Dr Volkow said. The study appears in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The dramatic rise in mobile phone use around the world has prompted concerns about possible harmful effects, including brain tumours. Last year, the much-delayed Interphone report found no hard evidence that mobile phones increase the risk of cancer, but the issue remains unresolved.
In the new study, 47 volunteers were given two brain scans, each on different days. The scans, which used a technique called positron emission tomography (PET), were designed to monitor changes in the way the brain metabolised glucose, the fuel it needs to function.
Before being scanned, the volunteers had a mobile phone positioned against each ear. In one scan, both phones were switched off. But in the other scan, the phone on the right ear was switched on, muted, and set to receive a lengthy recorded message. The volunteers were not told which scan was which.
When they compared scans taken in these two different scenarios, Volkow’s team discovered a pattern of increased brain activity in the right orbitofrontal cortex and the lower parts of the right superior temporal gyrus. In these areas of the brain, glucose metabolism rose from 33.3 to 35.7 micromoles of glucose per 100g each minute.
Brain activity can rise a lot more than this when a person simply looks at images on a screen. In 2006, Andrei Vlassenko at Washington University School of Medicine reported that viewing images could boost brain activity by between six and 51%. Vokow said these rises were caused by thinking about images, while mobile phones appeared to boost activity “artificially”.
She said it was unclear how mobile phone radiation might affect brain metabolism and added that more studies were needed to investigate whether the effects could be harmful to health. Since completing the study she has started using an earpiece with her mobile phone, a move she described as “conservative, not paranoid”.
However, if increases in brain activity caused by mobile phone use are found to be harmless, Volkow said, the phenomenon could be exploited to stimulate patients who have underactive brain areas.
From www.guardian.co.uk
Intense solar activity in 2012 could trip mobile phones, GPS
Dec 13th
LONDON: Experts predict the Northern Lights will be at their brightest in 50 years in 2012 and could cause disruption of mobile phones, global positioning systems and even national grids.
The 2012 aurora will be caused by the solar maximum – a period when the sun’s magnetic field on the solar equator rotates at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles, reports the Daily Mail.
Fast-moving charged particles from the sun, known as solar wind, interact with Earth’s atmosphere and are closely linked to the 11-year solar sunspot cycle.
The lights form high above Earth, usually above 40 miles and sometimes as much as 600 miles higher than the space shuttle travels.
The last solar maximum was in 2000 and Nasa scientists have predicted that the next one in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, where the aurora stunned the people of Mexico by making an appearance on as many as three occasions.
Scientists have stated that the Northern Lights should at least be visible as far south as Rome in 2012.
Photographer Orvar Thorgiersson is in the middle of a project to document the growing intensity of the phenomena. “In 2012, we will have the best opportunity to view the aurora in a long time,” he said.
Intense solar activity in 2012 will trip mobile phones, GPS
Dec 12th
LONDON: Experts predict the Northern Lights will be at their brightest in 50 years in 2012 and could cause disruption of mobile phones, Global Positioning Systems and even national grids.
The 2012 aurora will be caused by the Solar Maximum – a period when the sun’s magnetic field on the solar equator rotates at a slightly faster pace than at the solar poles, reports the Daily Mail.
Fast-moving charged particles from the sun, known as solar wind, interact with Earth’s atmosphere and are closely linked to the 11-year solar sunspot cycle.
The lights form high above Earth, usually above 40 miles and sometimes as much as 600 miles higher than the space shuttle travels.
The last Solar Maximum was in 2000 and NASA scientists have predicted that the next one in 2012 will be the greatest since 1958, where the aurora stunned the people of Mexico by making an appearance on three occasions.
Scientists have stated that the Northern Lights should at least be visible as far south as Rome in 2012.
Icelandic photographer Orvar Thorgiersson from Reyjavik is in the middle of a project to document the growing intensity of the phenomena.
“In 2012 will be the best, brightest and most dramatic opportunity to view the aurora in a long time. The aurora is a magnificent display of light,” Thorgiersson said.
“It’s so intense and when you face it, you feel an indescribable connection with nature’s greatest event,” Thorgiersson added.
